


After the War

by sunkelles



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Gen, post return of the jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24835186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles
Summary: After the fall of the Empire, all of Endor is celebrating. That doesn't mean that Leia and Han don't want to know what happened to Luke, though.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Luke Skywalker & Han Solo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	After the War

**Author's Note:**

> i watched the return of the jedi again tonight (woot woot) and i whipped up a fic! this is the first thing i've finished in like, a month, so i have to say i'm pleased if only for that.

The Ewoks sure know how to throw a party. The booze and the music flow, and the horizon alight with fireworks. The little creatures chatter happily around the bonfires, some dancing more freely than she’s ever seen anyone dance before.

She grew up going to the fanciest imperial parties in the galaxy, but all in attendance knew better than to behave too rashly. The drinks stopped before the guests got too drunk, the dancing stayed formal, and no one had any fun at all. Leia can’t think of anything quite so different from this rowdy atmosphere she's found herself in right now.

The laughter hasn’t stopped bubbling from her lips all night as she danced with Han up and down the swinging bridges, twirling around like she hasn’t a care in the world. 

The Empire is gone, Luke is alive, and the man of her dreams is smiling down at her with devotion in her eyes- ready to kiss her senseless at a moment’s notice. They’ve _won_. 

When Luke finally arrives, Leia feels her smile grow even wider, and she and Han wrap their arms around him as tightly as they can. They draw him into the dance too, and the hours flow into each other as her feet start to ache from dancing. Her breath has started to leave her, and she’s started to tip over a bit from the wine. 

“I’ve danced more than I ever have in my life,” Leia says, looking up at Han in a daze. Han looks a bit tired too, but when her eyes drift to Luke she sees his eyes are still as wide as ever. Apparently, he’s still got the energy that the both of them lack right now. 

They hear a cheering group of Ewoks, and Han turns around behind him to send them an incredulous look. 

“How are these guys still so peppy?” he asks, “we fought off a whole damn battalion and then danced half the night.” 

“I guess the Ewoks are just stronger than you are,” Leia teases. Han looks ready to retort, but she grabs him by the shoulder and launches herself up to peck his cheek. Whatever he was going to say dies with the blush on his cheeks. Luke looks hesitantly from her to Han. 

“I should probably head in for the night,” he says, smiling softly. Han points a finger at him accusingly. 

“Eh, eh, eh,” he says, “you still haven’t told us what the kriff happened with you after you left!” Luke meets Leia’s eyes, and bites his lip. 

“I don’t know if I should,” he says. 

“We’re your best friends,” Han says, “who else are you telling?” Luke still looks to Leia for approval.

“Alright,” Leia says, nodding at Luke, “let’s head back to my room. We can tell both our harrowing tales there.” If she leans on Han a little on the way there, well. She’s a little drunk and they’re… something, now. Something important and romantic. She’s allowed to lean on her maybe-boyfriend if she wants. 

When they get back to her quarters, Leia collapses onto the burlap seat that resembles a couch. Han sits down right beside her, side to side, and Luke takes the green chair right across from them. The room is lit only by the light from the bonfires outside, and it's hard to see more than the barest trace of each other's facial expressions.

Maybe that’s for the best with the story that Luke’s about to tell. 

“So,” Han says, “what the hell happened with you, kid?” 

“I went to confront Vader,” Luke says, “he wouldn’t have left you alone if I were with you.” 

“That guy really has it in for you, doesn’t he?” Leia glances at Luke. While his facial expressions are hard to read, she can see the light reflected in his blue eyes. They’re looking directly at her. 

Oh.

“You can tell him,” Leia says softly, “it’s alright.” She’s barely processed the fact that Vader is her biological father. She’s not so sure she wants Han to know that, but it’s not like she can avoid it now. If she wants to know what really happened with Luke, she might just have to bite the blasterbolt and deal with the consequences. 

“He was obsessed with finding me,” Luke admits. 

“Was it just because you were a Jedi?” Han says. Leia hears Luke take a deep breath. 

“No, it was because he was my father,” Luke says. Leia feels Han stiffen beside her. 

“Darth Vader’s your dad?” Han asks. Leia glances over, and even in the low lighting she can see the look of shock on his face. He glances over to Leia, and she can see his eyes widen again. 

“Which means-” Leia nods her head, not trusting herself to speak. The joy of the Empire’s fall has dissipated from the room, leaving only the numb confusion of that particular truth: Darth Vader is her father. Not the one that matters, by any means, but the one who helped bring her into the world. His blood flows through her veins. 

“Kriff,” Han says, “that’s a lot to deal with.” Leia just nods, but she can see the ghost of a smile on Luke’s lips. He nods. 

“He told you at Cloud City, I’d guess?” Han asks. Luke nods. 

“Ooof,” Han says, bringing a hand to his face to rub at his eyebrow, “that’s just- I’m so sorry. You thought your dad was a Jedi, but you got- whatever _that_ was.” 

“My father _was_ a Jedi,” Luke says. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Han says, “before he killed all the rest of them or whatever. What did he want with you this time?” 

“He brought me to the Emperor on the Death Star,” Luke says, “the plan was to turn me to the dark side. It didn’t work.” 

“Obviously,” Han says, and Leia can see the little smirk on his face. She wishes that she didn’t love that smirk. 

“You beat him?” Leia asks cautiously. She knows that Luke wasn’t thrilled by the idea of fighting Vader, but if he brought Luke to the Emperor. Leia couldn’t imagine that ended the way that Luke had hoped. 

“No,” Luke says, “The Emperor kept trying to get me to strike at him in anger. He was taunting me with his absolute certainty that the rebellion would fail and that you would all die, but I knew that would lead me down a dark path. So I refused to fight him.” 

“And you made it out alive?” Han asks incredulously. 

“I did,” Luke says, “when the Emperor tried to kill me, Vader saved me. He _died_ saving me.” 

“Karabast, kid,” Han says, “you really do have a way of getting everyone to like you.” Normally, that comment would make Leia smile, but there’s something unpleasant settling in her gut. She knew that Darth Vader had created Luke, could call him “son” all that he liked, but she never thought that he’d actually follow through with caring about him.

Her biological father, the man who murdered millions, decimated the rebellion time and time again, and personally tortured both she and Han died to save her brother. She doesn’t know how to feel about that. 

“I thought that he could be good again, and I was right,” Luke says, and there’s a sort of triumph to his tone like he’s won a game of sabacc. It’s a fitting tone to use after gambling with his life. 

“But what if you weren’t?” Leia ventures. What if Luke _had_ been called on to kill Darth Vader? If he had to put him down like the rabid attack dog he was, could he have done it? 

“I _was_ right,” he asserts. It reminds her of something that he told Luke, shortly after they escaped from Cloud City. Master Yoda, apparently, had told him that going to save them would lead him to the Dark Side. Luke told him that was ridiculous, and he went to save them anyway. 

He told her that he didn’t regret it at all, because Master Yoda had been wrong about his attachments. It seems that Darth Vader had been wrong about Luke's darkness, and maybe _Leia_ had been wrong about light still residing in the walking weapon that was Darth Vader. 

“I’m glad you made it out alright, kid,” Han says. Luke smiles in return. 

"I told you what happened on the Death Star,” he says, “now I think it’s time I heard about Endor.” Han smiles at that. 

"Oh, well don’t worry,” he says, “Endor was a lot more fun than that.” Han glances at her for backup, but Leia just nods. After hearing Luke’s side of the story, she does find herself glad that she was on Endor instead of the Death Star. 

Not because it was fun, (there’s nothing fun about war, she thinks as the image of Alderaan exploding flashes through her mind) but because it was a challenge that she was ready to face. 

Before he left, Leia told Luke that she could never do what he does. He said that she had the Force as well, and that she was just as capable of using it as he is. Even if she does have the Force, she doesn’t think that she could _ever_ do what Luke does. She could never have extended a hand of friendship and forgiveness to Darth Vader. It doesn’t matter that he’s her biological father. He’s the one who killed millions of people, who tortured her, who stood behind her as insurance as Tarkin _blew up her planet_. 

If Leia had someone whispering in her ear to strike Darth Vader down in anger, she knows that she would have done it. He’s done too much damage for Leia to have been able to forgive him. 

But that’s why she was on Endor, and Luke was on the Death Star. He was able to stay on the light and bring Vader back into it, and she and Han were able to help open the deflector shield to send the Death Star up in flames. 

Han's voice breaks her back out of her thoughts as he says, “I know I was the General and everything, but, I’d say Leia did more than I did." Leia feels her cheeks light up bright red, unused to direct praise from her maybe-boyfriend. 

“No I didn’t,” she says. Han grins. 

“Yes you did,” he says, and he starts telling the story of the battle- the Ewoks, Chewie commandeering a Chicken Walker, and Leia finds herself resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. 

She doesn’t really think that she could have done Luke’s part of this story, but maybe he couldn’t have done hers either. Maybe they were all right where they needed to be. It all worked out in the end, after all.


End file.
